Are we heading to an era of decreased sponsorship? I've just been reading Li Ning has not been doing well. They tried to focus on high end market but have been finding it tough competing with Nike and Adidas. On the other hand, they've also lost their mass market end as they stopped producing some of the cheaper products. Factor in global recession and I think badminton sponsorship is going to be more difficult for chinese companies. Indonesian companies are different though
I don't know how they can get away with charging more than Yonex and way more than Victor, and yet their products don't play any better. :shrug:
their western strategy was to NOT compete like-for-like with nike etc. e: Just realised you are talking about strategy change for domestic market.
Says who? Sure looked like it to me. One of the first, if not the first Li-Ning stores to open in Europe was right here and all their prices were right up there with the Adidas and Nike apparel. Couple that with poor designing and marketing/advertising ... needless to say that store isn't around anymore . That was from before their venture into badminton I should add ... The design wasn't really that poor but not what you'd expect for the prices they were asking, kinda nondescript. Now the badminton apparel ... so far I've only liked one and a half of them ...
Now yao ming is gone, who is next? Will the western world support lining? Only the chinese will buy it so far. Price is very steep. Unless the rackets or shoes can work wonders, then yes. Only some nut case people or rich people will splurge and donate the money to the likes of yao ming, lin dan or li yong bo.
Ah yes, I think I've read it at one tim. But this is 2011, four years later after their failed attempt to enter Europe as the new Nike/Adidas ... The US entry strategy is the far more logical one which they should have used here as well. First proof yourself, then extort your costumers. Not the other way around .
I agree with you demolidor come on, they came out of nowhere and charge higher than Yonex? same as Adidas? I would buy those two any day
LN's strategy seems to be throwing a lot of money in marketing, anything ranging from tournament sponsorship, advertising and national team sponsorship. and then use that to promote and push their highend product. not much has been focus on the lower end, and that's really strange as the mass public isn't able to afford the overpriced LN highend. on the clothing side, LN has been very much squeezed by two large domestic brands ANTA and 361 as well as foreign brands like Adidas and Nike. they are losing a bit of ground there as well. so i am not surprised by the source that Cheung read.
LN's marketing is bound to a relative failure. Their main argument is "We are Chinese". That is how they developed in China, saying well the foreigners have Nike and Adidas but we can do as well with our brand. That is why they sponsor national teams, and Lin Dan says "its national brand" when interviewed. This strategy can work in China but of course is inappropriate for the world market. If they want to perform well in other countries, they have to untie the flag and the brand. And of course sell good products!
Everything is relative They are still more than 10 times the size of Yonex They still have about 1,6 billion USD earnings quaterly, and made 630 million USD in grosss profit according to Bloomberg They are still by far the biggest company making badminton gear in the world today, and turns in more profit than YY (YY have about 119 million USD in earnings quaterly, and 200 milion USD grosss profit). YY is not showing very strong financials, and with so many sponsored players, I bet their sponsorship may be even mor shaky for many players sources: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/earnings/earnings.asp?ticker=7906:JP http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=2331:HK /T
You have the badminton fan's point of view, Twobeer. But that is not the way to compare the financial aspect. They of course are much bigger then YY, because YY is a badminton brand that sells a little tennis and golf I think (not sure). Li ning is a general brand, the badminton is only a little part. Li ning's competitor as such is not YY but Adidas and Nike. That is why you can say "they are the biggest company making badminton gear" (Adidas and Nike don't). If General Motors would sell a badminton racquet tomorrow, they would be "the biggest company making badminton gear".
I agree with your statement. Li ning has more financial power, but don't forget li ning also needs to sponsor lot more players than Yonex I'm wondering what happen with another sport such as basketball, football, table tennis and track n field. are they going to buy expenisve li ning gear or will skip li ning and go for adidas, nike, etc
Those numbers for Yonex look better than expected (not that they look good) and it also shows Wilson is the biggest company making badminton rackets/gear (Amer Sports) edit: selling
If they would manufacture badminton rackets that would be great , and probably some great marketing, sponsorship muscles as well :-D .. Thinking as a badminton fan.
my guess for largest company that produce badminton racket would be Kawasaki with a market cap of US$16.2b.
